Question
I am looking to make a version of the "Rose Garland" awarded to the Kentucky Derby Winner. I can not figure out how they Attach the aquatubes to the "fabric" is there a special floral fabric out there to create "blankets"? Or Do I have to make my own? Also I read that Krogers glues the roses to the tubes, what type of glue do they most likely use and where do they glue? Any help you can give me would be wonderful. Thanks ever so much.

Answer
Hi Kelly,

Thank you for your very intricate question. There are so many ways to do this particular type of floral piece. I will try to describe them as best as I can. Let's see, you can make a garland of greenery such as with plumosus, salal, springereii, etc. and then you can use oasis cold glue, pan melt glue or a hot glue gun and glue the roses into the garland. You don't need the water tubes if you are just using the piece for a short time frame or in a cooler area. Use a hydrating spray for the roses and they will hold a lot longer as well. Another way to do this piece is with a new type of garland holder that they should have for sale at a local floral wholesaler. It is long tubes of foam in a netting type of fabric that you can soak to get wet and then design straight into it for the overall look that you want. Sometimes here at our track, they also use a floral foam wreath that has been cut to the shape of a horseshoe and then that is designed with the roses. A really old school method of making a piece that you are sort of describing is with a green felt. You use chicken wire, lace all of your flowers with their water viles through that and then glue or wire your fabric to cover the back of it. I don't think that you will quite get the effect that you are wanting though. When we make a funeral blanket, we simply glue the roses to the felt and then that lays over the casket. We put a rubber shelf liner paper underneath of it to help it from slipping off of the slick casket. Again, the glue that I love and prefer is almost like a rubber cement or a super glue combo that is made by the Oasis company. You can do anything with that glue. It will hold forever and it dries up fairly quickly. A lot of the glues at the craft stores don't dry very fast and it makes your project drag on forever. If you need to glue a flower to a water vile, just dab at the top of the vile and up under the rose to the green calyx part so the petals don't rip off in the process. Well, I wish you luck. I hope that I have been helpful to you. Thank you for your question.